Tam Re
by AdmiralGloval1
Summary: What if the Codex from "The Man of Steel" found its way into the universe of "Young Justice" and fell into the hands of some rather clone-happy scientists. How will the Team deal with its new member? What impact will it have on Connor, Kara, and Superman?
1. Sublevel Control

Doctor Lanheim was just not having a good day. First his car refused to start and he had to take the subway, then the coffee machine in the break room broke down. Could things get any worse?

" _Alert, containment breach in Sectors 1 through 5._ "

Of course, you idiot, you had to ask, he thought as he rushed to the elevator. If there was a containment breach on the surface, they might lose a few subjects, but the real gems were in the sublevels. He had to make sure they were still secure.

Despite the flashing red alert bathing the room in its crimson strobe, Sublevel Control was composed, almost unnaturally so. But then, they knew their job was not to worry about what happened up above. And besides, what moron would try to escape by going down? A quick survey of the monitors confirmed Doctor Lanheim's suspicions: his sublevels were secure. His com badge crackled to life.

"Doctor Lanheim, we've got the breach contained," Lanheim identified the voice as that belonging to Luke Harold, the chief of security. If he said the breach was contained, the breach was very, very contained.

"Very good, Harry. Care to venture a guess as to the cause of our lapse?"

"We've got her now," Lanheim could hear the satisfied grin creeping across Harold's face. The security chief was known as Hardass Harry. What he wasn't known for was smiling. If Harry was smiling, someone he didn't like was in distress. It was one reason Lanheim appreciated their security chief. He was predictable. You never had to worry about how he felt about something. If he didn't tell you, he didn't mind. If he did tell you, it was because he was protective of his men to a fault.

"Bring her down." Doctor Lanheim allowed himself a momentary smirk before regaining composure. If only one girl triggered the breach, then she had to be a powerful meta indeed. He looked forward to meeting his new guest.

Minutes later, the elevator dinged. One of the quirks Doctor Lanheim permitted in his staff was the humor that a surprising amount found in the innocent _ding_ of the elevator. It also served to alert the control staff that something worth listening to was happening, which meant that Lanheim had to conduct certain conversations in the privacy of his own office. For the most part, however, his control staff knew every going-on in the facility. They managed it better that way.

This time, the bell brought gifts. Luke Harold stepped out of the elevator, a satisfied smirk on his face as he beckoned his men forward. They held between them some creature, more a twisted shape than anything. It was white and bony, with long arms and a thick neck. It seemed almost bat-like in silhouette, but it was much larger. It seemed disturbed, even scared of the scrutiny with which the doctor examined it.

"What present have you brought me?" he asked, circling it.

"The new psi-scramblers work well," Harry chuckled. "You'll never believe who we've got here."

"Try me," Lanheim began furiously scribbling notes as he approached it, staring into its eyes.

"Miss Martian." At the name, the creature flinched and whimpered.

"Isn't she green?" Lanheim's pencil froze.

"That's what I thought. Turns out that's a disguise for… this thing." Harry nudged her with his foot. "Psi-scramblers knocked out her defenses I guess."

Lanheim looked at his prize with new-found enthusiasm. "Do you suppose her teammates know?"

The Martian snarled and whipped out a long claw, but a swift kick from Harry doubled her over. She lay there, whimpering and growling, a crushed white heap on the pristine floor.

"That wasn't terribly kind of you," Lanheim knelt beside her. "Take her to 52. See what they do about each other."

"Yes, Doctor." Harry nodded to his men, and they dragged her off.


	2. Miss Martian

Slowly, M'gann felt herself reassuming control of her body. The cannon in the courtyard had been some kind of psionic jamming pulse. As soon as it hit, she felt herself slip away, as if a wall had been erected between her mind and the world. Even her own body rebelled, slipping into her true form. Now she was… underground. She couldn't tell how far, though, and she was still trapped in her own body. The men at her sides pulled her into a dark cell and chained her to the floor, then left. M'gann took a moment to orient herself. The cell was barren, save one feature: a metal cylinder blinking with lights. Hoses stretched from the ceiling and floor to the cylinder, and a thin veneer of condensation coated the surface. What could that be? She wondered. Her eyes widened when she realized she could see a pair of eyes barely showing above the cylinder. They were nearly concealed by a mop of greasy hair, but even still she could feel an intensity burning out from them. It wasn't unlike… No, she couldn't think of that now. She reached out with her mind and touched his consciousness, gently probing it with her own. All the while, his eyes never flinched, or even blinked.

 _Hello,_ she projected, hoping he could understand her, _I am M'gann. But you can call me Megan. Who are you?_

One eyebrow raised, but no other change occurred. Maybe my form frightens him? With great force of will, she forced her body to obey. Slowly, it seemed, she returned to her usual form, a petite humanoid Green Martian, though it really took only a few seconds. The other eyebrow joined its companion in an elevated position.

"Do you have a name?" She asked again, aloud this time.

"You didn't scare me," he said. She jumped. She hadn't honestly expected any speech from him.

"I'm sorry?"

"You changed so I wasn't scared. You didn't scare me." His voice sounded dull and hoarse, but she could tell there was something wrong with him, that he ought to sound different. What had the doctors done to him?

A claxon clanged in the distance, and the intercom cracked the stillness. " _Alert, containment breach in Sectors 1 through 16._ "

"Are you strong in your other form?" asked the boy.

"Yes, White Martians are quite strong."

"Then change back and break out, then you can let me out." This boy was asking her to do what?! "I won't look," he said, averting his gaze for the first time.

M'gann hesitated. "Why do I need to do it?" she asked.

"Because all sixteen blocks on the surface have been compromised. It's a better chance than we'll get again."

"Where are we then?" She decided that if she was going to break this boy free, she would need more information.

"Sixteen cells to a level. Surface level, then sublevels by descending order. We are in 52. Three sixteens and then four. So Sublevel Three."

"Alright." M'gann steeled herself and reverted to her original form. With a growl she tore through the steel manacles. She crossed to the other side of the room and morphed back to her Green Martian shape. "You can look now," she accessed the control panel on the cylinder and disengaged the safety locks. With a hiss of steam, the capsule slid open, and the boy fell into her arms.

His expression didn't change, but his eyes seemed to soften and smile. He was much more frail than she had expected, and he could barely stand.

"Where too?" M'gann asked.

"Up, but not the way they expect. Go out the side. The sun will feel good. It always did," he said, leaning on her as they walked to the door. M'gann was surprised to find it unlocked, though with restraints on its occupants, locks weren't exactly necessary. They crept into the hallway, and headed to the elevator.


	3. The Sun

He didn't know what to feel. Excited? Happy? Nervous? He settled for alert. He had tried to get out once. They had caught him. That was the last time he tried that. His new… friend? Ally? Ally. His new ally would help him get out. She increased her pace the further from the cell they got, and soon they were running down the hall, hand in hand. The elevator dinged, and a few guards jumped in shock at their former prisoners bolting towards them. It was all the chance Megan needed. He saw her close her eyes, and the guards flew to the wall, and crumpled in a heap. The elevator doors slid shut just as they leapt in. He set the button to the first sublevel. There were emergency stairs that might be unguarded. The doors opened, and the _ding_ sounded, releasing the escapees into the hall. It was empty of guards, but the lights were sporadic, blinking and flickering. The ground shook and dust fell from the ceiling.

"Where are we going?" Megan asked, looking side to side.

"Stairs. That way," he nodded, moving to the left. They reached the end of the hallway, only to find the door barred.

"Stand back," Megan said, shutting her eyes. The door rattled for a moment, then fell to the floor, the hinges flapping aimlessly on the frame. They took the stairs as quickly as his legs would let him. They burst out into a ramp, and he could just see the dawn glow reaching over the lip.

 _Crack, crack, crack!_ Shots popped in the morning air, and he stopped. Megan looked back at him, and her eyes widened. He looked down at his chest to see blood blossoming across the hospital gown. He sunk to his knees. He tried to crawl forward, but he couldn't breathe. He put his hand up. If he could just touch the sun once more, he could die.

M'gann was surrounded. A quick head count revealed… too many. She couldn't take them all down, but she could try. The boy was gone, but she had to keep her head. The soldiers were wearing some kind of power armor, and carried high-velocity rifles. They were also wearing psi-shields, so she couldn't enter their minds. One leapt toward her. She steeled herself, but the impact never came. Instead, she felt herself thrown sideways, then blinded by a crimson flash of light.

"No," she heard, and turned to see the boy upright once again, his intense eyes tinged red.

It was the sun. It had to be. As soon as it touched his fingertips, he felt new life flood his limbs. But it was when it reached his eyes that he felt it. The fire inside him, the anger and frustration and fury burst forth in an uncontrollable torrent that burned as it left. He forced his eyes shut, waiting until the wave subsided. He opened them again to see Megan lying on the ground, staring at him. At the top of the ramp, a heavy powersuit stomped to a halt and trained its cannons on the escapees. "No," he said, and threw himself at the powersuit. He had made it so far, he was not about to stop now. He reached the suit far faster than he expected, and with far more force. For a moment, he thought he had somehow overshot and he was now behind the steel behemoth. Then he saw the crumpled heap tossed in front of him, a dirt track marking its path.

"Hold, warrior!" A voice called, and he turned to see a boy in a red and black suit approaching him.


	4. The Yard

Kaldur wasn't sure what he was seeing. A security walker had been preparing to fire down some kind of ramp, when suddenly it was hurled back by a boy in a hospital gown. "Hold, warrior!" he called, sprinting to them. If this boy escaped, then perhaps he had seen M'gann.

"Kaldur!" He heard her voice, and a knot of tension released inside him.

"M'gann, what happened?" he asked as she ran up the ramp to him.

She reached Kaldur, but her eyes stayed locked on the boy. "They spotted me during recon somehow. They captured me with some kind of psi-scrambler, then threw me in a cell with him," she nodded towards the boy.

"Who is he?" Kaldur whispered.

"I don't have a name," the boy said. "But they called me 52 down below." He was still staring at his chest, watching the bloodstains that had stopped spreading.

"First let's get you out of here. Then we can find you a real name, friend," Kaldur said. The guards weren't about to let them rest easy, though. Several of them charged, brandishing rifles and batons. Kaldur drew his watershapers, intercepting one with a blow to the head as M'gann swooped to lift another. Two more tackled 52, pulling him to the ground. He threw one off and rolled in the gravel with the other, grappling for position. Finally, he got his arm around the guard's neck, and leapt up, shooting high into the air. Unfortunately, it looked to Kaldur that he wasn't expecting to go so far, and he lost his grip on the guard. The powersuit's emergency thrusters activated, buoying the guard, but 52 plummeted to earth, landing with a ground-shaking impact. He struggled up, but fell back to his knees, too weak to stand. The second guard put his gun to 52's head. 52 stared up into the barrel, defiance gleaming in his eyes. Kaldur leapt to his head, swatting the guard's rifle up and knocking him back. The guard in the air dove down and opened fire. Bullets peppered the ground, and Kaldur was forced to shield himself and 52 with his watershapers until the hail of lead ended. Gaining altitude, the guard came around for another pass, and Kaldur crouched, preparing to intercept him.

"Stop," 52 grunted. "He's mine," the boy grunted as he pulled himself to his feet. Just as the guard swooped down, he jumped again, slamming into the armored man. They fell back to the ground, but this time 52 was ready for the landing. He caught himself and pulled back his fist, preparing to render the guard unconscious.

"Wait," Kaldur said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "They are surrendering." All around the yard, his team were collecting weapons from guards and leading them to a cluster in the middle. It wasn't long before Kaldur saw why.

The familiar shield gleamed in the sun as the cape fluttered easily in the wind. "Stand down." The words were spoken gently, but they echoed across the yard as a warning. It was a warning well heeded. For the first time, silence held court as the man in blue touched down.

Kaldur jogged to Superman's side. Something big must be going on if the leader of the Justice League himself had come. "It seems that most of the subjects have escaped. The guards have surrendered. My team can begin searching the facility itself for any stragglers."

"It's your team, Kaldur," Superman flashed that reassuring smile he was so famous for. "I'm here on my own… errand."

"Let us know if there's any way we can help," Kaldur turned to his team. "Beast Boy, M'gann, Superboy, take the east wing. Nightwing, Robin, you're with me."

"Gar and I can handle the east wing, M'gann should stay with our new friend," Superboy said, depositing the last of the weapons in a pile.

"Very well. Everyone else, begin combing the forest for escapees. We need to make sure they are not a danger to themselves or anyone else." The team split up, each headed in their own direction. Kaldur thought he saw Superman nod in approval, but he wasn't sure. He decided to worry about it later as he joined Nightwing and Robin at the ramp from which M'gann and 52 had emerged.


	5. Codex

Kal had seen the alert. He had a scanner in the Fortress of Solitude set to detect Kryptonian technology on Earth, just in case. It had only gone off once before, when Kara had arrived. Whatever it was, it merited inspection. He tracked its location, and arrived to find Kaldur's team already on site, fighting a hard battle against a security force in powersuits. They didn't look like Lexcorp tech, but one could never be too careful. He decided to step in, just to make sure there were no unnecessary casualties, on either side.

"Stand down," he said. He touched down and received Kaldur's report, then scanned the facility for what he was looking for it. In the blink of an eye he had delved to the deepest point in the lab and retrieved the relic and returned to the surface. Now, to see what havoc had been wrought.

There, by Miss Martian. That boy wasn't like the others. His bone density was too high, his heartbeat was too strong. If the doctors had done what he thought they had done, then things were about to get complicated. He was glad he had called Kara, though she wouldn't be here for a few minutes. She had some business of her own to finish up.

"Who are you?" the boy asked, beating Kal to the punch.

"My name is Kal El, but here on Earth they call me Superman. Do you have a name?" The direct approach was probably best here.

"No, they didn't give me one. But they called me 52 when they didn't think I was listening." The boy shrugged. "It never really mattered. Are you," 52 looked him in the eyes, "Like me?"

There was an intensity in the boy's eyes that Kal rarely saw, but he should hardly be surprised. "Yes, and no." Might as well tell the kid the truth.

"How do you mean?" said 52.

"We were born on different planets, you on Earth and I on Krypton, but something tells me you're Kryptonian too." Kal gave him a reassuring smile. "Just a hunch."

"The doctors did call me that now and then."

Well there's that hunch confirmed, Kal thought.

"What does it mean?" 52 asked.

"It means you're different from other people. We aren't from Earth, not really. Our bodies are different. In the light of this young, yellow sun, we can do fantastic things. There's so much to tell you that I doubt you learned from the doctors I – ah, Kara, I'm glad you could join me," said Kal as his cousin hovered into view.

"I wouldn't miss this for anything. I just had to –" Suddenly, she dropped to the ground when she saw 52. "Tam?"

She couldn't believe it. Krypton was destroyed. Argo was barren. She and Kal were the only Kryptonians left. And yet, unless her eyes were lying to her, there was another here, right in front of her. Not only that, but one she knew.

"Tam?" Kal said, eyebrow raised. The boy turned to her and she had to contain a gasp. His eyes… they were definitely his. But how could that be? "Kara? Did you know him?"

"He was… a friend," She couldn't process what she was seeing.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you," the boy turned away from her.

"Kal, how is this possible?" asked Kara.

Kal revealed a dark gray skull covered in softly glowing glyphs. "This is a relic from another Krypton, in another universe, that came here through a tear in the Phantom Zone. It carries the genetic material of every Kryptonian ever born in that universe."

"So that means that I'm a…" The boy sank to the ground. "I'm a clone."

Kara's heart went out to the poor boy. He seemed so small and powerless kneeling there in his hospital gown.

"What did you call me?" he asked, looking up to her. His piercing eyes searched her own, looking perhaps for some solace against the world.

"Tam." Kara knelt beside the boy. "On Krypton, the House of El and the House of Re were very close. I was good friends with the patriarch's son, Tam. We grew up together, played together, went to school together, we even would have taken the trials together." She felt a knot building in her throat as her mind went back to the home she left behind.

"Is that who I am?" asked the boy.

"Again, yes and no," Kal said. "You have Tam-Re's DNA, but you aren't he. Your life has been and will be very different." He stopped to think a moment. "But we can't even be sure that it is in fact Tam-Re who they cloned. You could be an ancestor, or even a descendent. In that universe, Kryptonians hadn't had natural births in centuries, they relied on this Codex to produce the genetic information required to reproduce. We ought to take you to the Fortress to determine just who you are. Kara, you're welcome to join us." With that, Kal lifted from the ground, hovering a few feet above the gravel. The boy stood and nodded. "Follow me. I'll take it slow," Kal gave a reassuring smile.


End file.
